The Last Temptation Of Grima
by Raeror
Summary: The Fell Dragon and the being who imprisons him have a little chat.


"You again."

Grima the Fell Dragon looked down at the creature in front of him, giving off a ferocious snarl. He crunched the brittle ground underneath him, kicking up some dust.

"Yes, Grima. Me again." Robin replied. Not fazed in the slightest. Harsh winds cut through the air, flinging around grains of sand. "I hate this place you force yourself to reside in every time I come to it. Let's just stop this right now, shall we?"

With a snap of Robin's fingers, the wind died instantly. Dust settling on the barren wasteland.

"How are you, old friend?" Robin said, walking to the behemoth just ahead. "I'm sorry I haven't talked to you as often as I used to, I've been a bit busy lately."

"You're affairs do not concern me in the slightest."

With each step Robin took, the world around the two transformed. Flowers bloomed. Tall trees took root. Robin sat down, resting under a tree. In mere moments, the land had gone from a wasteland to a forest. The sounds of birds tweeting and running water pierced through the dead air.

"For the matter, I liked my peace and quiet," Grima said, even more irritated than normal.

"Are you still saying that any of this is still yours?" Robin said. "You know you're trapped inside of me right? Have you been pretending that this was the real world while I was gone?"

"It's my prison, at least let me have that much," Grima growled.

"You're right. I didn't come here to fight. I've already won." Robin shrugged.

"What do you _want_?!" The dragon snapped. "Did you come here just to bother me?!"

"I've had a lot on my mind. I'm going to be a grandparent soon," Robin replied. "And I've been thinking about my life, the people around me, and you."

"Great. Another spawn." Grima said. "Is that it?"

"Oh, don't worry about it. It's not like you're going to see them at this rate. This place is the only thing you see."

"And I was just fine seeing it alone."

"Grima, don't you know that I never leave you alone? There's a little part of me that's always watching you. You know, sometimes at night, when I really try, I can still feel all of your rage. All you think about is how much you hate me. Hate my friends. Hate my family. Hate everything."

"Yes, and just how much I would just love to tear you apart," Grima said with a sickeningly sweet smile.

"Don't be a dick about this Grima," Robin said. "Come on. Don't you get tired of all this hate? Don't you get tired of any of this? Day after day it's the same thing. Don't you want something different? Isn't it time for a change?"

"What are you proposing?"

Robin's hand went up. "Let me absorb you, Grima. Right now you're just trapped, but I could integrate you into my being seamlessly. Become me, Grima. Don't be my prisoner, be a part of me."

"Why would I ever do that?"

"Because it's time you understand what Naga was trying to protect."

"DON'T SAY THAT NAME IN FRONT OF ME, CRETIN!" Grima roared. Opening his mouth, dark energy collected in a spherical ball of black lightning.

"Oh, what are you going to do? Blast me? You might send me back to the world with a light headache." Robin's fist balled up. The Fell Dragon had the temperament of a child. Oh well, time to dish out some punishment.

"GOOD ENOUGH!" Grim released the blast, the beat rocketing right for Robin.

Robin's hand shot up in the air. A small shield encircled Robin, protecting from the monstrosity from the blast.

"DIE!" Grima smashed his fists against the shield. Each impact generating a shockwave through the area.

Robin started sweating. Traveling to this place in one's own body took serious meditation in the real world. Grima's overwhelming power made this even harder. Robin dropped to one knee.

"BEGONE, INSECT!" Grima roared. "I HAVE NO NEED FOR YOUR TRIFLING WAYS!"

The shield started to crack. Robin's body trembled.

"Enough." Robin shot one of a hand up.

Dozens upon dozens of giant chains exploded from the ground, wrapping themselves around Grima, bringing him to heel. "LET GO OF ME ROBIN!" He manged to say before several chains wrapped around his neck.

"YOU... BLOODY FOOL!" Robin shouted, shooting the hand back down. The chains plummeted, and Grima smashed into the ground.

"WHY DO YOU MAKE PEOPLE DO DO THIS TO YOU? OVER!"

Robin slammed Grima into the ground. Again.

"AND OVER!"

Again.

"AND OVER!"

Again.

"AND OVER!"

With each slam, Grima broke more through the earth, the crater his body leaving getting deeper.

"You went from being the world's apocalypse to being trapped inside one person's soul. And do you want to know why? Do you want to know why no matter how strong you become, you always lose?!"

"... Shut up." Grima mumbled from inside the crater.

"Always fail?" Robin, breathing heavily, took a step to the crater, almost falling down.

Grima's irritation reinvigorated him. "SHUT. UP."

"Always end up in a more pitiful state than before?!" Robin matched Grima's fury

"I SAID-"

Black lightning emerged from the crater, crackling in the air.

 _ **SHUT UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-"**_

Grima blasted Robin with everything he had. The dark energy hit Robin dead on, completely encompassing Robin in the beam. The beam tore through everything in its path. The forest Robin created was annihilated in seconds.

Grima felt the chains release their hold on him. Good. He started to climb out of the crater. "And don't come ba-"

Robin was still standing. Not a single scratch. Panting and sweating heavily, but still standing. "Are you done yet?"

"Are you?" Grima retorted.

"Even after everything that's happened, you're still just an all-mighty idiot." Robin's hand shot up. Life returned to the area, completely swallowing the effects of Grima's blast.

Grima growled, readying himself for another attack.

"Can you not see the truth Grima?" Robin asked. "Do you just choose to not see that? Or does the mere thought, simple concepts of destruction and death fill your entity so much you simply cannot realize your folly? All of those ginormous eyes and you are still oh so shortsighted. Honestly, it's pathetic how you writhe and struggle."

"Then tell me, wise one? What can I, a being that has lived more than a thousand years, possibly learn from you?"

"Destruction is fleeting. Creation is infinite." Robin replied. "And that is why you will never win."

"What are you talking about?"

"You've lived for such a long time, and yet, what have you done? You said you would destroy the world, and you failed. You said you would blanket the earth in eternal darkness, and you failed. All these grand promises and destruction, but the only ruin you've brought is to yourself."

"You..."

"Do you want to know what's going to happen Grima? I am going to leave, and I am going to live what remains of my life. And one day, maybe sooner than I want to admit, I am going to die. And you are going to die with me. No matter what you think you can do to escape, I will make sure you die with me, even if that means I have to drag you to Hell myself."

"Is that a threat?"

"No, it's a promise. A promise I will be very, very, very glad to keep."

Grima made a low growl.

"Now, between that day and today, you can either stay here and lurk like you've done for all years. Or you can join me. Let me absorb you. See the world through my eyes. Maybe you can feel my joys. I'll let you see the birth of my grandchild." Robin said. "You know, it's one of the greatest joys this world can give you. Seeing your children grow up, happily married and having a family of their own. Just say yes, and I'll absorb you."

"You could always absorb me," Grima said. "You could do it right now."

"I could, but I won't," Was Robin's reply.

"Then why not?"

"You have to earn it," Robin said.

"You annoying fool."

"Say it," Robin insisted. "Nothing happens until I hear you say it."

"No."

"Why not?" Robin asked. "Look at you, trapped in a prison where the walls close in a little more each passing second? Do you think you're preserving some sort of dignity and self-respect since that' all you think you have left? Or are you just on your most basic instinct to spite another lifeform?"

"WHY DO YOU CARE?!" Grima screeched. "AFTER ALL THIS TIME, AFTER I'VE TRIED TO KILL EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE YOU'VE EVER LOVED, WHY WOULD YOU EVER TRY TO GIVE ME EVEN THE SLIGHTEST BIT OF HAPPINESS?!"

"Because I wanted to know something. I wanted to know if I could give true happiness to the hatred incarnate, maybe you would change. I want you to understand, I-I-I need you to understand, that it didn't have to be this way. I came here to make peace with you. I don't want our story to end the way it's going. You have little time left, Grima. You might as well try to enjoy it."

"I am satisfied just the way I am. A being of death and destruction."

Death cannot exist without life. Destruction cannot exist without creation. That makes them fleeting. If you cannot accept this to be true, then you lack rationality, and are, therefore, truly a lost cause."

"Are you calling me an idiot? Of course I know that!"

"Then you know that death is just part of the cycle. Life comes, death takes it away, new and more life takes its place. And that's the world, plain and simple."

"Where are you going with this, Robin?"

"My point is, why do you insist on throwing off the balance? If you wiped out every form of life in the world, to where life would never return, would you then kill yourself in the name of your mission? Or would you just live in a world only of you, with nothing left to destroy?"

"I'll cross that bridge when I get to it."

"And in that, you have proved my point. Everything about you, down to the last ideal you hold dear, is fleeting." Robin sighed. "Well, if you still refuse to accept my offer, then I am done here. I just want you to know Grima, that once I leave here, I am not coming back. When the when the lights go out in here, and you find yourself starting to fade away, maybe you'll realize how foolish you've always been."

"I'll just be glad it's over. Now leave."

Robin's body started to be enveloped in white. "Goodbye Grima. I truly wish I could have helped you. We could have been friends."

"Good riddance."

Robin disappeared.

Grima opened his mouth, and let out another blast of dark energy, destroying the life Robin had left behind, and returning it to the empty wasteland he preferred.

Thus has it always been, and thus shall it ever be.


End file.
